m with becoming ceremony and after a many-coursed
repast rose to fulfil the specific terms of his pledge.

"The Line of Thang," he remarked with inoffensive pride, "has for
seven generations been identified with a high standard of literary
achievement. Undeniably it is a very creditable thing to control the
movements of an ofttime erratic vessel and to emerge triumphantly from
a combat with every junk you encounter, and it is no less worthy of
esteem to gather round about one, on the sterile slopes of the
Chunlings, a devoted band of followers. Despite these virtues,
however, neither occupation is marked by any appreciable literary
flavour, and my word is, therefore, that both persons shall present
themselves for the next examination, and when in due course the result
is declared the more successful shall be hailed as the chosen suitor.
Lo, I have spoken into a sealed bottle, and my voice cannot vary."

Then replied Tsin Lung: "Truly, it is as it is said, astute Thang-li,
though the encircling wall of a hollow cedar-tree, for example, might
impart to the voice in question a less uncompromising ring of finality
than it possesses when raised in a silk-lined chamber and surrounded
by a band of armed retainers. Nevertheless the pronouncement is one
which appeals to this person's sense of justice, and the only
improvement he can suggest is that the superfluous Hien should hasten
that ceremony at which he will be an honoured guest by now signifying
his intention of retiring from so certain a defeat. For by what
expedient," he continued, with arrogant persistence, "can you avert
that end, O ill-destined Hien? Have you not burned joss-sticks to the
deities, both good and bad, for eleven years unceasingly? Can you, as
this person admittedly can, inscribe the Classics with such inimitable
delicacy that an entire volume of the Book of Decorum, copied in his
most painstaking style, may be safely carried about within a hollow
tooth, a lengthy ode, traced on a shred of silk, wrapped undetectably
around a single eyelash?"

"It is true that the one before you cannot bend his brush to such
deceptive ends," replied Hien modestly. "A detail, however, has
escaped your reckoning. Hitherto Hien has been opposed by a thousand,
and against so many it is true that the spirits of his ancestors have
been able to afford him very little help. On this occasion he need
regard one adversary alone. Giving those Forces which he invokes
clearly to und